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I am contemplating whether I should get the K790i or the more expensive K800i. I guess I have to choose between UMTS and EDGE.

I live in India and my network doesnt offer 3G (I presume that means no UMTS). As it offers GPRS, I guess EDGE would work.

If my network upgrades to 3G in the future, will the 790 still function with EDGE? Will a 3G network still support EDGE?

Thanks
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Posted: 2006-09-04 19:41:42
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some operators offers edge and umts in the same time, u should ask your one, what their plans are for the future. if u dont have 3g support atm, take the k790. if u dont wanna make video calls for example, thatn edge will do it for u, however its just for data transfer, aslong with umis fones u can make video calls, watch tv etc
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Posted: 2006-09-04 19:45:12
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well question really is, will an 800 work in a non-3G network and will a 790 work in a 3G network?

I understand that functions like video calls and TV will only work on 3G, so apart from that.

Thanks
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Posted: 2006-09-04 19:55:43
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800 will work in non 3g network, but seesm for me pointless to use a 3g fone in 2g system, 790 works at an operator, if 2g and 3g is offered ( edge is 2.5g )
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Posted: 2006-09-04 19:58:22
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Remember that the k790i dont have avidocall camera!
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Posted: 2006-09-04 20:16:22
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You should check with your operator if they have edge in your area. Telia here in Sweden are the biggest operator and they provide edge only in Stockholm. The speed differance edge/3g is hardly noticable except that edge is too slow to stream video.
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Posted: 2006-09-14 16:29:00
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Yip The K800 will work on any gsm network, gprs, edge, 3G or HSDPA enabled...
K790 to...
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Posted: 2006-09-14 16:47:47
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k8 doesnt support edge

http://www.sonyericsson.com/s[....]1_1_1&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10407
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Posted: 2006-09-14 16:57:54
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Hi,

to date, the necessary licenses for 3G have not been issued by the Indian regulator. They are working on it and should release them soon, but even if they were available tomorrow, it would be at least 1 year (maybe 2) before the network was built out.

So for the near future, GSM/GPRS/EDGE is the better option for you.

The K800 supports 3G & GPRS, but not EDGE. So having a 3G phone with no 3G network is pointless and you will get slower download speeds limited to only GPRS than if you went for the EDGE phone.

Even when the 3G network is built out, the GSM/GPRS/EDGE network will not go away so your K790 will continue to work just fine. The 3G network and GSM/GPRS/EDGE network work in parallel on two different frequencies.

However I am not sure if your operator supports EDGE. AirTel and Hutch provide EDGE coverage in large parts of India. So you might want to check with your operator if they support EDGE before buying the K790.

The network deployments look like this

GSM = basic/minimum, voice & SMS only.

GSM/GPRS = voice & SMS, low speed data (up to 115 kbps but more like 30 to 80 kbps in real life).

GSM/GPRS/EDGE = voice & SMS, medium speed data (up to 236kbps but more like 100 to 160 kbps in real life).

3G (UMTS) runs in a different frequency to GSM (GSM is 900MHz and 1800MHz, UMTS is 2100MHz). 3G supports up to 2Mbps, but in real life deployments is limited to 384 kbps.

Future versions of 3G (called HSDPA) support up to 14 Mbps, but in real life will be limited to between 4 and 5 Mbps. HSDPA is just starting its rollout commerically, expect it to be common in 3G networks by end 2007.

I hope this helps,

/Mike B.
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Posted: 2006-09-14 17:01:43
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Quote:
On 2006-09-04 19:41:42, ananth.r wrote:
I live in India and my network doesnt offer 3G (I presume that means no UMTS). As it offers GPRS, I guess EDGE would work.


Note that a network offering GPRS does not automatically provide you EDGE services even if you have an EDGE-capable phone. Check the providers whether their networks have EDGE services.

[ This Message was edited by: Jamiri on 2006-09-20 11:43 ]
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Posted: 2006-09-20 12:41:16
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